"That's right," Riveria nodded in agreent. "Ais has been with us the whole ti. She hasn't acted alone, so it's impossible for her to have practiced privately with Flascion."
"Which ans they developed that synergy on the fly during that life-and-death struggle, coming up with that combination attack in a split second..." Gareth stroked his beard, his face full of awe. "Young people these days are truly terrifying."
"But fire and wind really do have a strange, compatible feeling to them," Anakitty said, a look of regret on her face. "What a pity Flascion isn't in our Familia."
On the other side, the girls of the Focalors Familia were huddled together.
"Is the Captain... really that close to Loki Familia's Sword Princess?" Seeing Aiden and Ais execute such a flawless combination attack, Daphne's expression turned a bit strange.
"Speaking of which..." Holding Little Ica, Hyacine tilted her head as if suddenly struck by a thought, looking at Robin and Tifa beside her. "Shouldn't we keep a closer eye on our Aiden? I feel like he's getting a bit too popular lately."
"Agreed." Robin and Tifa exchanged a glance, reaching an instant consensus. They absolutely could not let their Captain be led astray by wild flowers on the outside.
Seeing the strange, competitive fire suddenly burning in Robin and Tifa's eyes, Jeanne, standing nearby, blinked in pure confusion. anwhile, Daphne astutely grabbed Cassandra and quietly took a step back. Her intuition told her that this was a hellscape waiting to happen. It was best that ordinary people like her and Cassandra stayed entirely out of it. Cassandra obediently hid behind Daphne, equally sensing the subtle shift in the atmosphere.
However, neither Robin nor Tifa noticed that Hyacine, who was looking down and gently petting Little Ica, had a sly, just as planned smirk curling on her lips.
Right at that mont, a jolt of electricity seed to flash through Jeanne's mind. Almost instinctively, she looked toward the dismbered Dead End Butcher. Simultaneously, Finn felt a sharp throb in his thumb. He unconsciously licked it, a powerful sense of alarm washing over him.
"AIS!"
"AIDEN!"
Almost at the exact sa mont, Jeanne and Finn shouted with all their might, "That monster isn't dead!"
Startled by the warning, the relaxing crowd jumped in fright and instinctively looked toward the center of the battlefield. Then, everyone's eyes widened in horror. Hearing the warning, Aiden, who had just sighed in relief, had no ti to think. His body reacted purely on instinct, grabbing Ais and retreating backward with everything he had.
The very second they vacated the spot—BOOM!!!
A colossal, pitch-black palm covered in glowing green veins slamd down, instantly pulverizing the ground they had just been standing on into a massive crater. A terrifying shockwave radiated outward in violent rings, shattering the surrounding earth inch by inch.
"There really is a f*cking second phase!" Aiden glanced back at that giant hand, his eyelids twitching violently as he cursed out loud.
Having successfully pulled off a combination attack with Ais and slicing Dead End Butcher into four pieces, he actually thought the monster only had its initial phase. After all, the first phase of Dead End Butcher was already far stronger than Goliath. It was a bona fide Level 5 monster. Having it appear on the seventeenth floor was already completely overkill.
But he still underestimated the Dungeon, and he underestimated the impact his [Abyss Gazed Back] skill had on it. This Dungeon had actually placed a completely overpowered, broken boss on the seventeenth floor!
At the wound where Dead End Butcher's lower half had collapsed, flesh pulsed, twisted, and rapidly mutated, sprouting entirely new tissue. And the thing that had just attacked them was the very first arm to finish regenerating.
Dead End Butcher staggered to its feet. Its upper half, which had been chopped into pieces, writhed, fused, and restored itself amidst billowing steam. Eerie green magical circuits now blanketed its entire body like a motherboard. In re seconds, Dead End Butcher had fully restored itself to its original state.
Not only that, but its flesh continued to throb, its body ballooning in size, becoming even more gargantuan than before. Its back violently ripped open, sprouting two additional, thick arms. It had transford into a giant humanoid monster with four arms. Blindingly bright green magic circuits covered its body, emitting an overwhelming radiance of excess magic power.
"ROAR!!!"
The second-phase Dead End Butcher threw its head back and howled at the ceiling. The terrifying sonic waves rippled through the air, causing the entire floor to shudder violently and sending rocks tumbling from the ceiling. It used its two original pitch-black arms, now tracing with green circuits, to hamr its chest wildly. That fierce, berserk aura drained the color from Bors and the adventurers of Rivira. They trembled uncontrollably, their legs turning to jelly as they nearly collapsed.
"Whoa! It actually has a second phase! So cool!" Only Tiona's eyes sparkled. Far from being afraid, she grew even more excited.
"You idiot Amazon, can't you see? This monster isn't ssing around." Bete's expression turned grim as he looked over. "Finn!"
"Yeah. Bete, Tiona, Tione. You all go in together." Finn nodded, his brows locked tightly. The strength of this new Floor Boss completely exceeded his expectations. Its first phase was already absurdly strong—most Level 5s wouldn't have been able to handle it alone. And now, it had actually resurrected into a second phase.
"Ohhh! I'm going in!" Tiona, looking like she'd been injected with pure adrenaline, was the first to charge forward, brandishing her giant double-bladed Urga.
Bete clicked his tongue, transforming into a silver blur as he followed close behind.
"Leave it to , Captain," Tione also replied, before rushing in with her curved blades drawn.
"Is it because its magic stone wasn't destroyed?" Finn asked solemnly, looking at the fiercely roaring Dead End Butcher.
"It's not that simple." Riveria's erald eyes were full of gravity. "Do you see those green magic circuits on its body? Its magic capacity is terrifying. I even suspect it doesn't have a 'magic stone' weakness to begin with."
"Then this is going to be troubleso." Finn's frown deepened. "Without a core weakness, combined with that terrifying regenerative ability... unless we use a super-tier magic to directly blast it into ash, I'm afraid we can only slowly whittle it to death."
"This Dungeon is getting weirder and weirder." Gareth walked over, his face lined with confusion. "I'm having a harder and harder ti understanding it, too. I just hope the Deep Floors haven't undergone this kind of change, otherwise we're in major trouble."
"It shouldn't... have reached that extent yet." As Finn spoke, his gaze drifted faintly toward Aiden, carrying a subtle, unnoticeable depth.
"If you're injured, then obediently roll far away. Don't hold back." As he passed Aiden, who was currently being supported by Ais, Bete's mouth was as foul as ever. Yet, the look in his eyes as he charged onto the battlefield was as sharp as a blade.
"What are you talking about, you stinky werewolf? Aiden is already really strong! You're the one who shouldn't get in my way!" Tiona brandished her giant blades and followed right behind him.
"Ais, we're going in." Tione's figure flashed by; her words brief but powerful.
"I'm fine. Go," Aiden said, straightening his posture and looking at Ais.
Ais gave him a deep look. Seeing that although his aura was weak, his eyes remained clear, and noticing that Tifa, Hyacine, and the others had already hurried over, she nodded and hesitated no longer. A gentle breeze picked up once more. Holding Desperate, Ais plunged back into that domain of death.
As expected, I pushed it too far... I'm not strong enough. Aiden looked at Ais's retreating back and shook his head helplessly.
While his burst output was incredible, and his fla sword, empowered by [Everlasting Flas], could bridge the level gap and shatter the carapace that even Ais found troubleso... he was ultimately still only a Level 3. His constitution, stamina, and ntal strength—all the hard stats—could not compare to top-tier adventurers like Ais, who had already sublimated to Level 5.
To others, the fact that he was able to cooperate with Ais to kill Dead End Butcher's first phase was already a miracle and a Great Feat worthy of being recorded in history. If it had been any other Level 3, forget coordinating with Ais—they would have been a massive liability from the very start.
However, he was truly quite glad that they had happened to run into the Loki Familia's expedition this ti. Otherwise, they would have been genuinely trapped on the seventeenth floor. Until Dead End Butcher was subjugated, they wouldn't have even been able to dream of progressing to the lower floors.
"We can't participate in the upcoming battle. Let's just obediently act as spectators," Tifa said softly, stepping up to support Aiden.
Hyacine aid both her hands at him, enveloping his body in a soft, green glow that rapidly began to heal his internal and external injuries. "You're hurt pretty badly, Aiden. You need to rest well. You can't push yourself anymore~"
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